Motherboad affect SNR ?

[kc10boom]

Can a motherboard affect SNR? I'm having some strange issues with SNR problems which I have a case opened with Ceton. My current motherboard is an Asus M2A-VM , but if I change the card to my gaming rig (Biostar TP67B+) could the newer board (even though both are compliant) have any affect on SNR ?

[newfiend]

I don't believe so.. The best way I know of to get better SNR on a cable line is to eliminate as many splitters between where the cable comes into the house and the HTPC.. Make sure you are using good RG-6 cable and use cable line terminators on any excess outlets in your home that are unused. Any reason you think the MB is causing SNR problems?

[kc10boom]

I may have to close off the terminators. I only have one splitter in my attic off the input line. I'm just baffled why I have a few channels that still won't come in even with an amp. ESPN gets worse if I move the amp from the PC up into the house line in the attic. I have 5 connectors that aren't terminated . That includes the splitter and extra bedrooms. I'm working with Ceton on the SNR mystery.

[barnabas1969]

Outside temperature can affect signal strength (power) and quality (SNR).

So can...

• Damaged cables (squirrels/rats in your attic or up on the utility lines? Old, rotten insulation?)
• Loose/corroded connections (make sure they're clean, and tighten with pliers/wrench)
• Amplifiers (they increase power, and decrease SNR).
• Splitters (they decrease both power and SNR)
• Cheap, low-quality cables (including the ones from the wall to the TV/DVR in other rooms!)

I recently had a bout with my cable modem. It died, and the new one was more finicky about the signal. My tuners, tuning adapters, and cable modem are all in my wiring closet, and they all shared the same cable line that comes from the point of entry.

Long story short... I complained loud enough that I got a whole TEAM of people here from the cable company.

One was up on the pole... he replaced the tap that feeds me and all of the neighbors who are close to me. It was old and corroded. He also found that the cable feeding my house was chewed by squirrels. There was enough slack cable that he was able to cut off the end, and put on a new connector.

One was crawling through my attic to install a new cable run from the point of entry. Now, my cable modem has its own feed, and my tuners and tuning adapters share another.

One was working at the point of entry. He replaced the existing 4-way amplifier. The old amp fed a 4-way splitter (that fed my kids' rooms) and three more drops (the first one fed my wiring closet, the 2nd one fed my HTPC's internal tuners, and the 3rd one fed and un-used outlet in my bedroom). He installed a 9-way amplifier so he could eliminate the splitter. Eight of those are now in use (including the new drop they installed).

All of this was done free of charge. The squeaky wheel gets the grease! Now, my signals are better than ever. Everything works perfectly.

[barnabas1969]

I may have to close off the terminators. I only have one splitter in my attic off the input line. I'm just baffled why I have a few channels that still won't come in even with an amp. ESPN gets worse if I move the amp from the PC up into the house line in the attic. I have 5 connectors that aren't terminated . That includes the splitter and extra bedrooms. I'm working with Ceton on the SNR mystery.

Un-used outlets should be eliminated (preferably) or terminated (to prevent reflected signals and signal ingress). If you eliminate them, you should install a smaller splitter and just leave them disconnected.

[barnabas1969]

Oh, forgot to mention...

In the youngest kid's room, I used a really cheap cable from Wal-Mart to connect the TV to the wall. The cable was 20 feet long. The tech found that I had too much signal ingress (RF in the air that was being induced into my cables). He narrowed it down to that cheap cable. This was the #1 culprit to why I was having trouble with my Internet and Tuning Adapters communicating up-stream. I threw it away, and he made a new high-quality cable.

[adam1991]

yes, it's always best to let the cableco supply you with all your cables, splitters, and amps.

Regarding amps: barnabas mentioned that, plus outside temperature. I'm quite far from the pole--300ft or so. Without an amp, I got nuthin'. But one year it was cold; it turned out that the extra signal that resulted from cold cable, plus the amp, was causing problems. I removed the amp, and for that winter got along fine without it.

It's a complex system.

[kc10boom]

I may have to close off the terminators. I only have one splitter in my attic off the input line. I'm just baffled why I have a few channels that still won't come in even with an amp. ESPN gets worse if I move the amp from the PC up into the house line in the attic. I have 5 connectors that aren't terminated . That includes the splitter and extra bedrooms. I'm working with Ceton on the SNR mystery.

Un-used outlets should be eliminated (preferably) or terminated (to prevent reflected signals and signal ingress). If you eliminate them, you should install a smaller splitter and just leave them disconnected.

I just disconnected the cables going to the rooms from the splitter. I still can't figure out why ESPN HD works fine if the amp is placed between the wall jack and PC, but gets worse when I move it to the entry point in the attic. I was considering getting the pricier Motorola amps or I suppose I could ask Cox to bring one out based on the outcome with Ceton

[foxwood]

All of this was done free of charge. The squeaky wheel gets the grease! Now, my signals are better than ever. Everything works perfectly.

Now we know why the rest of us are paying so much for cable!

[newfiend]

LOL.. Darn it Brian...its all your fault!

Sent from my SGH-i937 using Board Express

[barnabas1969]

@kc10boom: Simply disconnecting the additional cables from your splitter will NOT improve signal strength, and may not improve signal quality. If you have a 4-way splitter and disconnect 2 cables, you need to replace the 4-way splitter with a 2-way splitter before you will see any increase in signal strength.

Also, you mention the amplifier in your attic, and refer to it as the "point of entry". Your attic is NOT the point of entry. The point of entry is the point where the cable enters your house from outside. Basically, there is a cable that comes from a pole (or from a green box near your curb), and it enters your house somewhere (usually at a gray box). This is the point of entry. This is where your amplifier should be installed (if an amp is needed at all).

[barnabas1969]

Also, it is possible that your signals strength (power) is already too high. Adding an amp in this situation will make your problems worse.

And, if your SNR is borderline, adding an amplifier will make it worse too. Amplifying a noisy (aka dirty) signal only serves to amplify the noise.

[barnabas1969]

All of this was done free of charge. The squeaky wheel gets the grease! Now, my signals are better than ever. Everything works perfectly.

Now we know why the rest of us are paying so much for cable!

Hey, sometimes it pays to be a jerk.

[kc10boom]

The diagnostic is showing a marginal signal -- and a lot of demodulation errors, which are normally the cause of low signal and/or interference. Could you describe your wiring topography, splitters, amps, any MoCA devices, etc? Make sure to check the dongle in the back of the InfiniTV, as it should be securely in place.

That was from Ceton. I called Cox and they ran a test to the cable modem because I complained about also getting random outages. They said the readings were out of tolerance and a tech is coming to the house.

[kc10boom]

Cox came out and did a line test on the cable going from the box in my backyard to the house, and it was very bad. He said there was a bunch of "ingress" and the amplifier I had hooked up was just making it worse. That is why I'd have more problems hooking the amp up in the attic than leaving it between the wall jack and the PC. They cut a new cable, which is strung across my backyard, and a 3rd party will be out here to bury it.

Strength and SNR went from -13.0 / 29.0 - 31.0 up to -8.0 and 37.0 after the new line was put in. I could put the amp back on and get -4.0 but I'll just leave it alone since all is good now.

[Moderator note: topic merged]